Wednesday, October 1, 2014

I Can Hear Your Voice Review

Sit back relax and watch my spoiler-free review of I Can Hear Your Voice.

Read on to hear what I liked, didn't like and what I loved... Spoilers beyond this point.

With this drama falling under the Noona-romance realm, I was a little weary of watching it. I have to tell you that some Noona-romances make me terribly uncomfortable. I am talking squirm in my seat uncomfortable. Don't get me wrong, I squirm just as much with old dudes and young women. Just think of how hard of a time I had sitting through Big. That kid is like 15/16 and it shouldn't matter that he is in an adult body, because he whined and sounded like a child the WHOLE show.

This drama however got it right.

How did they make the Noona-romance work? Well they made the woman insanely immature for her age and the young guy wise beyond his years. It was a simple solution. Let the "real age" not factor in and let the "mental age" do all the work. Voila! It worked like a charm. You actually want Soo Ha to get the girl. And she is a girl... not yet a woman(pardon the Britney reference). So any hesitation or awkwardness you would have felt otherwise falls away. Ahhhhhh... then you can watch the show in peace without anything being too far-fetched.

ICHYV is a crime drama with a revenge plot thrown in. Oh yeah, and a little sci-fi for good measure with the mind-reading. They had me at crime drama, so I was intrigued with how the mind-reading would play out. I didn't know if they would go full cheese with an unbelievable plot... or go the learned ability caused by trauma route.... like The Frighteners. I am very happy that they keep this element subdued, it took a backseat to the rest of the plot. It also made the romance more interesting. Even if you took that superpower away, the show still works. Think about it.

As for the revenge plot(s), they were realistic. Min Joon-gook had a good reason for being as crazy as he was. What he suffered to make him lose his mind would put anyone else in the crazy house. I loved that the writers made his trauma truly traumatic. Unlike some other shows.. ahem.. Flower Boy Next Door.

Min Joon-gooks character was very thought out. He was evil to the core at the most pivotal moments. To the point that I screamed at my television for someone to mow him down with a car. Hahaha But when he was in his softer moments, the moments with Hye-sungs's Omma or even Lawyer Cha, he showed kindness, weakness and a hesitation to go through with his evil thoughts that made him wonderfully villainous. Which any good villain should do. Playing with our emotions and making us care for him made Jung Woong-in a standout to me for his performance. Those conflicting moments are what make a memorable villain. He is a bad guy, but you understand why he is evil and can place your self somewhat into his shoes. It takes a smart actor with a good writer to bring life to something that is completely devilish in nature. His character is what I will remember from the show the most. Even 5 years from now.

The romance in this show is sweet and very innocent. Soo Ha and Hye-sung were like children with their emotions. Soo Ha was by far more grown up about his feelings... But to be fair he's been in love for 10 years giving him the upper hand. Whereas Hye-sung was new to all of it, which helps explain how school-girl like she was. The kiss scenes were adorable.... Just that adorable. Not sexy or juicy or hot or earth-shattering... adorable. I think that this helped me really come to love this Noona-romance couple. If they had been steamy I think I would have thought it was too lewd. Their love was slow, because of Soo Ha's patience and Hye-sungs hesitation. Adorable kisses showed the love that was blooming there. A hot kiss would have squashed it and made it into more of a summer romance per-say.

I got to thinking about it and what this plot really boils down to after
you strip away all the murder, law, romance and comedy... is the
underlying truth... Revenge is for the weak. A strong person takes the
higher road, is truthful, loving and considerate. I am going to take this with me as I move on to newer dramas.

Overall this show was great. It was well written, not too long and drawn out. A really easy and enjoyable show to watch. Don't get me wrong, I was on the edge of my seat for most of it. I also cried like a baby during the funeral scene and called my Mom immediately to tell her that I love her... But isn't that what we all want from a show? Don't we want an emotional rollercoaster that helps us bond with imaginary characters... I know that's what I want. And I fucking got it. Hell yeah.

5 comments:

It could (it isn't always) be boring if we didn't have an emotional roller coaster during a drama. I have watched I Can Hear Your Voice twice. I don't know if I'll watch it again but it says a lot that I watched it twice. I don't do that with all of my favorites.

I agreed with you on everything you said, I do find the noona romance sweet and not as bad as some other dramas.

I had the same feeling about the villain, to be honest, I just want to see him down or gone somehow and stop making the Hye sung & Soo Ha so miserable. But I guess without him, this might just turn into another romantic comedy, right?

I like the character's faith in each other - Hye sung believe in Soo Ha and that's why he didn't turn into a killer, he kept his promise to her. I also like the bits of comedies - such as when the judge's robe got blown by a fan during court - I laughed like crazy at that scene, and those elevator scenes - those were fun.

And Lawyer Cha - well, I just don't get how he keeps switching from this odd-ball who wears white socks to this somewhat slick and serious lawyer - I do like his backstory of how became a prosecutor though. It just seems to me that he keeps switching between the two.

And like you said, it really is a rollarcoaster of emotions. when Hye sung cried at the swinging doors, that was so, so sad. Overall, this is definitely one of the better drama that I've seen.

And let's not forget the music, you know how they always have music/scores - I got the soundtrack through iTunes and loved it - I don't think people talk much about the soundtracks in these kdramas but I've thought the soundtrack are almost always great and they added emotions to the scenes, and I would definitely recommend Master's Sun soundtrack - that was great especially the scores.

I love the music in most shows. I'll have to listen to this one again. Master's Sun... Awesome. Have you watched It's Okay That's Love? That is what I currently have on repeat. I just can't stop. Hahaha